Kevin Durant hits milestone as Phoenix Suns beat Dallas Mavericks 114-102
Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns putting up a three-point shot over Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of the NBA game at Footprint Centre on Oct 26. The Suns won 114-102.
PHOENIX – Kevin Durant recorded 31 points and nine rebounds to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 114-102 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Oct 26.
He also became the eighth player in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to top 29,000 career points. He finished the game with 29,010.
Said the 36-year-old two-time NBA champion: “I’ve got to give credit to the people who have helped me since I was a kid. Teammates who passed me the ball, set screens for me, coaches who drew up plays for me.”
His current coach Mike Budenholzer added: “What a tribute to a great, generational talent. I feel incredibly lucky to be around him every day.”
Devin Booker scored 21 points, Jusuf Nurkic had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Ryan Dunn tallied 13 points for the Suns.
Luka Doncic had 40 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Mavericks. Kyrie Irving scored 22 points and Klay Thompson added 19.
Phoenix shot 45 per cent from the field, including 14 of 39 from three-point range. The Suns played without Bradley Beal (elbow) and Grayson Allen (away for the birth of his child).
The Mavericks made 39.8 per cent of their field-goal attempts and were 13 of 41 from behind the arc. Doncic and Thompson each made five treys.
Dallas trailed by eight at the break but started strong in the third quarter with a 12-5 push to move within 68-67 with 9min 11sec left. Phoenix answered with a 15-4 push that was capped by Durant’s fadeaway jumper with 4:26 remaining for an 83-71 lead.
The Suns led 91-80 entering the final quarter before the Mavericks crept within six. Dunn and Durant made threes and Durant added a conventional three-point play to push Phoenix’s lead to 105-90 with 6:44 left.
The trey pushed Durant’s career-points total over 29,000. The 9-0 sequence also put away the Mavericks.
Phoenix made 28 of 37 free throws, with Dallas 15 of 18.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers also came through in the clutch as Norman Powell scored 22 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter of a 109-104 victory over three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
Powell sank a three with 53.1 seconds remaining to pull the Clippers level at 103-103, then James Harden made four free throws and Powell sank two more in the final 30 seconds to deliver the win in Denver.
“Just locking in, being aggressive, being what the team needed me to be,” Powell said. “Taking the shots that came to me.”
Harden finished with 23 points and 16 assists for the Clippers, while Croatian centre Ivica Zubac added 24 points and 15 rebounds.
Jokic made a career-best seven threes on the way to 41 points but the Serbian centre missed a late game-tying attempt from beyond the arc.
Powell, a 31-year-old guard who won an NBA title with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, said the Clippers are confident even with Kawhi Leonard sidelined by a right knee injury.
“Same expectations as always,” Powell said. “The take is that we’ve got enough. We have the belief in ourselves to go out there and compete in games.
“When Kawhi comes back, we’re going to be ready to accept him as we always do and be clicking on all cylinders.” REUTERS, AFP
コメント